Wheel.



PATENTED MAR...17, 1908.

M. D. BRAKE.

WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18, 1907.

A rlally impaired by a single puncture, is well y tire and to withstandthe hard usage to which vehicle Wheels are ordinarily subjected, and

` .through 'the latable Athe A1n whic vtween -the portions of '45 partsin all of the views of the drawings, re-` UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.I

MARSHALL D. DRAKE, OF BEARD, KENTUCKY.

WHEEL No. 881,909. Patented March 17, 1908.

Application filed May 18, 1907. Serial No. 374,368.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARSHALL D. BRAKE, citizen of the United States,residing at Beard, in the county of Gldham and State of Kentucky, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Wheels, of which the following1s a specification.

.My invention pertains to wheels; and it contem lates the provision 'ofa wheel del si ed or use in bicycles, automobiles and ot er vehicles,and embodying such a construction that it is possessed of greatresiliency or springiness, is not liable to be matements of about theproportional size illustrated are removed, segmental tire clenchingsections d removably arranged in the spaces afforded by the removal ofthe before mentioned segments from the body c, and suitable meansdetachably connecting the segmental tire clenching sections with thebody a. As shown in Fig. l, the segmental tire clenching sections (Zalternate with the portions of the fiange c integral with the body a,and 'the detachable connection of the said tire clenching sections isreferably effected through the medium of bo ts B which extend throughthe body a and receive the sections rZ on their threaded iortions, andnuts C mounted on the said bolts B and disposed at the outer sides ofthe sections d. By virtue of this construction all that is necessary tobe done when for any reason a tire clenching section d is to be removed,is to remove the nuts C complementary to the mentioned section d, -andthen draw the section laterally off the bolts B and away from the bodya. With a view of interlocking the tire clenching sections d with thebody a of the rim so as to remove strain from the bolts B and contributeto the strength and durability of the rim as a whole, I provide eachtire clcnching section d with a lurality of lateral tongues e, and thebody a in the inner walls of its segmental recesses with notchesj'of ashape and size to snugly receive the tongues c as clearly shown in Fig.3. Thus it will be seen that without interfering with the lateralremoval and replacing of the tire clenching sections d in. the mannerbefore described, the said sections d are joined to the body a so as toform a rim quite as strong and durable as a rim formed of one piece ofmaterial.

D D are the spokes of the wheel. These -spokes are provided at the innersido of the rim body a with enlargements or collars g, -and are extendedthrough and beyond the said rim body, as indicated by 7L and best shownin Fig. 2.

E is the cover com rised in the resilient tire oi my novel whee and F Fare the individual inflatable compartments whichin combination with thecover E form the said resilient tire. As clearl)T shown in Fig. i?, thebase portions i of the tire cover E are shaped to-be securely held a therim A, and as clearly shown in Fig. 4 'the said base portions 'i restclose together except at the points where the spoke portions 71v occurat which points the base portions i are adapted to resist lateral strainimposed on its 1s susceptible of being ex editiously, easilyV andinexpensively repaire without entailing employment of skilled labor. oWith the fore oing in mind the invention will be fully un erstood fromthe following description and claims when the same are read 1nconnection with the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecificatiom F1' ure 1 is a side elevation ofso much of a Wheel as isnecessary to illustrate the referred embodiment of my invention. F10'. 2is an enlarged transverse sectionI ta en rim and tire of the wheel andillustrating one spoke and one individual in- .compartment in the tire,and the arts appurtenant to said spoke and inatable compartment.` Fig. 3is an enlarged detail plan view showing a Wheel rim and illustratinfrwhich one of the removable tire clenching sections of the rim is .joinedto the body or major portion of the rim. Fig. 4 is a detail sectiontaken throu h the base of the tire cover and showing t e manner in whichthe outer portions of the spokes are received bei said base. Similarletters designate corresponding erring to which:

4A is the rim\of my novel wheel, which is made of material suitable toits purposes, and is preferably, though not necessarily, of the veneralshape in cross-section illustrated in Fig. 2. The said rim A is madeupfof a body a which extends entirely around' the wheel and is rovidedat one side with a continuous tire-ho ding flange b, and at its oppositeside with a tire-holding fiange c from which segprovided with opposedsnugly receive the said spoke portions. This construction andarrangement of partsis materially advantageous for the reason that itsupport andcushion the individual inflatable compartments F which willnow be described in' detail. The said individual compartments F are likethe cover .E preferably formed of rubber` or other material possessed ofthe requisite resiliency, and are preferably in` the form of hollowballs, and are, in'the preferred embodin'ient arranged in the cover Ethat-each individual inflatable`compartment F touches or bears againstthe adjoining compartments F-fi.'e., the compartments F between which itis arranged. There may be and preferably is an inflatable .compartment Fto each spoke D, but this is not essential to the purposes of myinvention, and hence without involving departure from the scope of myinvention as claimed theremay be one inflatable` conipartment F to asuitable plurality of.. spokes D.

Each inflatable compartment Fis provided at its side adjacent to thecenter of the wheel with a socket m to receive the outer end of a spokeportion 71 Fig. f2, and with a view of precluding cutting or otherinjury of thecompartment vF by the said spoke portion, l. prefer to linethe socket "la with a socket n, which latter is preferably of spun orother light 'metal and 1s of the shape ofan inverted cup and of a sizeto snugly receive the end of the spoke portion 71. In 'describing thecompartments F as inflatable, it is my intention to impart the idea thatthe saidl individual compartments F maybe filled with air and thenvsealed or else that the said compartments F may, without involvingdeparture from the scope of my invention, be provided with' meansthrough which they may be inflated when'occasion demands. Y.

By. reference to Fig. 2 it will be apparent that the extension of thespoke portions h through the base of the tire cover E and into theindividual compartments F is materially advantageous for thereason thatthe said vet spoke portions are enabled to assist materially inpreventin@r lateral displacement of the tire as a whole from the rim,vand are also enabled to prevent lateral deflection ofthe compartments Fas well as to prevent the said compartments F creeping or casuallychanging their relative positions in the cover E.

` It will be gathered from the foregoing that lwhen my novel tire ispunctured, the puncture will not affect more than one of the comfL F,and hencethe resiliency of the tire and the efficiency of the wheel asawhole will not be seriously impaired. -From this it follows that when apuncture occurs the party using the wheel may, :if desired, reach arepair station without liability of injuring the wheel. Ilrwill also begathered that grooves j of a size to enables the base of the cover E toefficientlyA ofV my invention, s'obyasingle puncture, it wi wheel as awhole is simple and compactv 1n' when it is desired to remove one ormore of the air-filled Acompartiments F and replace the same with newcompartments, the samel may be readily accomplished by removing one ofthe tire clenching sections d and then raising the portion of the coverE adjacent to the particular compartment or compartments F mentioned,since when the cover E is raised as stated the compartment or.compartments F may be readily removed from their respective spokes andnew compartments F may then this done the side of the tire cover isreplaced in its original position, and the-tire clenching section d ispositioned and secured on its be placed on the spokes. With bolts B andwith respect to the rim body a, f

when the tire will be rendered as good as new. 4

Notwithstanding the fact that my novel tire and the parts of the wheelcoperating therewith are adapted to efficiently cushion a bicycle orother vehicle and this withoutliability of the tire being ,ap reciablyimpaired fl be noted that the construction aswell as neat in appearance,and embodies no parts that vare liable to get out of order after a shortperiod 'of use.

The construction herem 'shown land described constitutesv the preferredembodiment of my invention, but it is obvious that in practice structionand relative arrangement of parts may be made within the scope of, myinvention as defined in the claims appended.

Having described `my invention, what I .claim and desire to secure byLetters-Patent,

il. The combination in a wheel, of a rim, a

various changes in the form, contire comprising a continuous cover heldby I l the rim and resilient, inflated compartments arranged in thecontinuous cover; somej'of said compartments having socketsvin their..

inner portions the inner endsof which. sockets are closed-whereby thesame are isolated from the interiors of their respective compartments,and spokes extending through and bearing against the inner side of therim and also extending radially outward beyond the rim andl arranged inthe said sockets of the .inflated compartments and bearing against theend walls of the sockets.

2. The combination in a wheel, of a rim, a

tire comprising a coverheld by the rim and resilient air-filledcompartmentsfcontained. in the cover and having sockets in theirportions adjacent to the rim, and also having metallic cups in saidvsockets, and devices fixed toand projecting radi/ally from the rim anddisposed in the said sockets of thev airlled compartments.

"3.- The combination in a wheel', of, a rim having a detachableportionlor section at one side, spokesextending through and outwardbeyond .the body 'or maj or portion of the rim,

and a tire comprising a cover having sepalo tions at onegsidel and rablebase portions held by the rim and. also I riible base portions helil bythe rim und resili- 15 having grooves intheropposed faces of said ientair-filled 'compartments removably .srbesel portions,snuglyfreceivingtheextendedv ranged in the lcover und' having sockets in portionsoi thespokes, and resilientl air-filled their portions adjacent to the rim,and (le- 'compartm'ents removably arranged in the Vices projectingradially from the rim und 'f-cover and having sockets receiving theoutdisposed inthe said sockets 'of the air-filled 2o we rdl extendedportions of the s okes. compartments. y

4. he combination in a.-whee of e rim In testimony whereof I havehereunto set 'having detachable. se mental elenchel`- sec-l my hand inpresence of two subscribing Wit- Sozhgwin(r xediien e nesses. 1 portionsvintermedia;te the 'sai detsichab e .MARSHALL D. BRAKE. sections,and-means' connectingfth'e said der Witnesses:

tachable sectionspwith'its body or'maj or pore THQMAs E. TURPIN,

tion, 'ya tire compri'singe` cover buying sepa`\ J AMES J. SHEEHY, Jr.

